Late Night Talks
by Lilymaid620
Summary: Magnus Bane is going out for the night and he's dragged his friend and fellow warlock Elizabeth "Elle" Lilan along with him. But no matter how hard he tries he can't keep his mind off a certain blue-eyed Shadowhunter. It doesn't help that he's calling Magnus in need of his help. A Malec oneshot featuring my OC, Elle Lilan.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was a Friday night in New York City and that meant only one thing for the young 20 somethings of the city: it was time to hit the bars. This also held true for the High Warlock of Brooklyn, even if he was more of a 400 something than a 20 something. For once he hadn't felt like throwing a lavish party so he'd opted instead to get dressed up, put on a truly insane amount of glitter, and convince one of his friends to go out drinking with him. Tonight's victim- er- friend was Elizabeth Lilan, his fellow New York warlock. It had taken a lot of convincing but eventually, he'd managed to convince her to put on a cute dress and leave her Soho apartment. He loved Elle but she was quickly moving beyond homebody and becoming a flat-out hermit. She was currently sitting at the bar next to Magnus, sipping her margarita, and glaring at any guy who looked like they might approach her.

Elle was looking stunning tonight as usual. Her long chocolate curls were pulled back into a simple ponytail, revealing her delicate features and the bright silver eyes she possessed because of her demon heritage. She was also wearing a beautiful red dress with an open back. Elle leaned towards the more Bohemian style clothes and this dress was no exception. The top was red lace that tied behind her neck. The bottom was a handkerchief skirt that fell just past her knees with the waist showing small slivers of her peach skin. If Magnus looked carefully, he knew that he'd be able to see some of the silver scales that were spattered across her abdomen, her demon's mark along with her eyes. The rest she'd glamoured for the occasion. For someone who didn't enjoy the attention, looking the way she did in that dress, Elle had placed herself on every guy's radar.

"Remind me again why I keep letting you take me out bar hopping with you when I could be enjoying the comfort of my couch?" Magnus Bane looked over at his friend in fake shock.

"Are you seriously telling me you'd rather be cooped up at home with your 50 cats instead of out at a bar with my fabulous self?"

"Yes! I could be at home, braless and curled up on the couch with Netflix right now. And I only have 5 cats!"

"Shhhh! If you didn't have me dragging your lazy butt out with me every once and awhile you'd be a crazy cat lady hermit by now."

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Elle, when was the last time you went out and got laid?" Elle flushed. "Too long I'm guessing. Honestly, it's like you don't care that you never get laid."

"You make it sound like I've never had sex. I have been married 3 times, Magnus."

"Please, those first two don't count. The 1700s were just confusing for everyone involved and those were arranged. Arranged marriage sex doesn't count."

"And the third one?"

"I saw the pictures of Amos. Trust me, he counts. But the 1800s was two whole centuries ago. When was the last time you had sex this century?" Elle thought.

"Probably… last year? New Year's Eve." Magnus cringed. Elle glared at him. "Okay, Mr. High Warlock of Brooklyn. When was the last time you had sex?"

"Uhhh…" The truth was it had been a while since Magnus had gotten laid as well. Ever since he'd met a certain Shadowhunter he'd found himself reluctant to call up his former booty calls when he could be texting his Angel.

"Just as I suspected. You're still focused on that Lightwood boy, aren't you?"

"And if I am?"

"We've been over this before Magnus. He's a Shadowhunter, a closeted one at that. I don't know what you're expecting of him."

"Nothing. He's just interesting. And he looks so much like Will Herondale!"

"Do not tell me that all this is because of some unrequited crush you had on Will centuries ago. Look Mags, I was Will's friend too. I remember how hot he was. But this new Lightwood boy isn't Will. Will's gone and he just looks like him because Gabriel Lightwood tricked Cecily into marrying him and then procreating. I swear the only reason those Lightwoods still exist is thanks to alcohol and Cecily's good genes mixed up with theirs."

"The Lightwoods have been particularly insufferable in the past haven't they?"

"All Nephilim are insufferable, the Lightwoods just take the cake. Now Gideon and Sophie were a different story. Gideon was the best of the Lightwoods that I've known. Sophie married in, so I'm not counting her."

"You know, Alexander's middle name is Gideon." Elle groaned

"Not Alexander again. I swear if you're this determined to hold onto your bizarre fetish for this Shadowhunter just hook-up with him and get it over with."

"No, it's not like that. He's different, special."

"He's a Nephilim. Even if he is different, you know just as well as I do what they're like. Even when they're trying to be good and 'enlightened' they were made to fight demons. And like it or not, we're half demon. They're designed to hate half of who we are. It'll never work." At that moment his phone went off. Elle rolled her eyes. "Saved by the bell." She said as Magnus answered the phone. He was surprised to find the very person he'd been thinking about on the other side.

"Magnus! We need your help! Now!"

"Whoa! Alexander, calm down. Tell me what's wrong?"

"Clary and Izzy were out and they ran into some kind of demon. Izzy is fine but Clary is hurt pretty bad and we don't know what kind of demon it was and what to do."

"Breathe Alexander. We'll be right there, the Institute right?"

"Yes! Wait, we?"

"I've got a friend with me. She can help, trust me. You want her more than me right now." Elle specialized in healing magic and she knew far more than Magnus about it.

"Okay, just hurry!" With that, Alec hung up. Magnus looked over at Elle, who'd heard his half of the conversation.

"Who needs my help?"

"Shadowhunter with injuries after fighting an unknown demon. Please, best behavior." Elle downed her drink in a swift gulp and then finished off his. Magnus knew she hated Shadowhunters but hopefully, the buzz she had from those 2 drinks and her usually exceptional bedside manner would keep her pleasant.

"Sounds typical of those bumbling idiots. Let's go."

When they'd gotten to the Institute Elle had immediately rushed to see to Clary's wounds. She'd told Magnus to wait in the hall with the rest of the Shadowhunters, assuring him that if she needed his help he'd certainly hear her yelling at him. Jace had been pacing up and down the hall angrily, clearly showing his affection for the redhead and frustration at being unable to help her. However, Alec had shooed him off to the training center after he nearly kicked a chair to smithereens after he tripped over it. At least there he could vent his anger and the furniture would be safe Izzy had vanished off to the kitchen, saying she was going to make something for Clary to eat when she was up to it. Simon had dashed off after her, trying to convince her that making Clary eat her food would make the injured girl worse. That left Magnus and Alec alone in the hall, sitting in awkward silence outside the closed door where Elle was busy with Clary.

"So," Alec said, breaking the silence.

"So," Magnus replied.

"Thank you for coming. We weren't sure what to do."

"It's no problem, Alexander. You should save your thanks for Elle, she's the one doing the healing."

"Yeah." Alec fell silent for a moment when Magnus brought up Elle. "Ummm… So, you know Elizabeth Lilan."

"Of course, we've known each other since the 1800s."

"That long?"

"Yes. She's a great warlock healer. Clary's in good hands."

"That's good. Especially, since you know her so well."

"Well, I have known her for 150 years or so."

"Yeah." Alec paused. "That's a long time. To know someone."

"We're warlocks. We live for a long time."

"Right. You do." Something in his voice was off. Magnus was concerned, was Alec alright? Was he that worried about Clary."

"Alexander," Magnus started, only to be cut off by Elle walking out into the hall. Both of them immediately turned to her.

"Well, she'll be fine." They both let out a long sigh of relief.

"What was it?" Alec asked.

"Behemoth. Looks like some of the demon's slime got into her bloodstream through her wounds and it wasn't letting her heal. I gave her a potion to clean it out and used a purifying spell to get the process up and working more quickly. She's resting now, but when she does wake up it'd be best for her to stay inside for a few days until the potion is out of her system. She'll be especially sensitive to toxins in her body like smog, smoke, and alcohol. The less exposure she has to them, the better. I'd just avoid anything that could be considered poisonous to the body."

"In that case, I really hope that Simon convinced Izzy not to cook," Alec said. Magnus winced but nodded in agreement.

"I've written down a list of what she should avoid but I'll add that to it."

"Thank you, and thank you for coming."

"It's no problem. Better than another night at a bar with this idiot." Elle said, waving to Magnus. Magnus was indignant.

"You make it sound like I torture you there."

"You do."

"I just make you leave the house every once and a while and go out and have fun." Elle groaned and rolled her eyes, looking over to Alec.

"Are you seeing this? Do you see what I've had to deal with for 150 years?" Alec chuckled.

"Sounds like me and Izzy. She's always trying to convince me to go out to parties with her." Elle threw her hands up in the air.

"THANK YOU!" she exclaimed. "Finally, someone gets it. I'm perfectly fine at home, I don't have to be constantly going out to have fun. But this one," She said, pointing to Magnus. "Is always after me to go out to this party or that bar. Can't I enjoy being home with my cats and Netflix?" Alec laughed, while Magnus grumbled to himself. "I swear, he's always been like this. He always thinks he knows what's best for me, like some kind of annoying big brother!"

"That's cause you act like a stubborn little hermit and spend all your time with your cats."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. You have a cat too!"

"I have A cat. You have 5! You're turning into a crazy cat lady!"

"I like being a crazy cat lady." Alec was dying of laughter at this point.

"You two do sound like Izzy and me! If I didn't know better I'd think you were brother and sister." Elle rolled her eyes.

"Oh God! Related to this glitter bomb! Really?"

"I like glitter!" Alec laughed again.

"I should go find Jace and let him know what's going on before more of our furniture pays the price. Thank you again for coming you two."

"No problem." Elle supplied. Alec flashed Magnus a beautiful, blue-eyed smile that took the warlock's breath away and turned to go find his angry, blonde parabatai. Magnus couldn't help but watch him as he walked away, flushing bright red. Elle caught his eye and gave him a knowing smirk. Magnus slammed his hand down onto a nearby side table, almost crying out at the pain. "You're right. He is different. I could almost like him, but I'm also drunk."

"Damn Shadowhunter! That's it, I'm gonna have to kill him!"

"Normally I'd support you but I think it'd be more fun to watch you suffer. Man up and actually ask him out." Magnus looked away, still bright red and muttered to himself.

"Killing him would be so much easier."

"Yes, but then how am I going to torture you for dragging me out to a bar."

 **For anyone coming back to this story after 1/15/20, and wondering why it seems different, I went back and decided to fix some mistakes in the previous version and add in some extra content. Hope this resolves any confusion**

 **~ Mallorie a.k.a. Lilymaid620**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Alec, I don't think this is a good idea." Clary didn't know why she was repeating herself, she'd been saying the same thing since they left the Institute. But he wasn't listening. Alec was determined and, worse, he was drunk with nothing to lose. No way he was going to listen to her logic in this state. The only person who stood a chance of getting through to him was his parabati, but Jace was laid up in bed, still recovering from his girlfriend's stabbing him with a holy flame sword. While Clary as glad her boyfriend was no longer tied to her psycho brother, she still felt bad for nearly killing him to do so. This meant that when Jace had asked her to look out for his friend after his break-up with his boyfriend, Clary had immediately agreed.

Honestly, she was just as worried about Alec as Jace was. You didn't have to have a soul bond to realize Alec was in no way okay. Misery rolled off him in waves. Clary still wasn't completely sure what had happened between him and Magnus, but whatever it was, Alec was taking it very hard. And he wasn't the only one. Izzy was furious. Clary had assumed that the Lightwood sister would be helping her take care of her brother (hopefully not by cooking). The good news was that Izzy wasn't trying to force her brother to eat whatever vile concoction she might create. The bad news was that her version of helping was phone stalking Magnus, even roping Simon into it. So lately Clary had been on her own with Alec. It was fine when he'd just been moping, calling Magnus, and trying to convince the rest of New York's Downworlder/Shadowhunter population to put in a good word for him with the warlock. But now, Clary was in over her head.

The night had started normal enough. She'd tagged along with Alec on a call of some fae drugs ending up in mundane hands at a club. They'd reclaimed the drugs and thoroughly intimidated the dealer. It was just as they'd been about to leave that they'd seen him. More accurately they'd seen the multi-colored glitter he was slathered in before they saw him. His golden skin shimmered in what light there was. Black hair was done up in an elaborate coiffure with turquoise, blue, and purple glitter. Alec had been frozen, just staring at him. Under his breath, she'd heard him murmur the High Warlock of Brooklyn's name. The man turned and winked at Alec. It wasn't Magnus Bane, just someone who dressed and looked a lot like him, but that was all it had taken to shake Alec. He muttered something along the lines of "need a minute" and vanished into the crowd. It took Clary a solid twenty minutes to find the shadowhunter again. He was at the bar and had apparently been drinking like it was the end of days. Not only that, he was crying and yelling about his break-up to everyone who got too close.

"He isn't answering any of my calls. I left so many voicemails. I had his friends call him and _they_ left voicemails. My mother left him a voicemail for Angel's sake!" Clary could only imagine the kind of message Maryse Lightwood would leave for the warlock ex-boyfriend of her son. "I just want to see him again." Looking at him, this was the saddest Clary had ever seen him. Even when Max died, Alec had kept it together for the sake of Jace and especially Izzy. For as long as she'd known him, the eldest Lightwood had always been able to keep his true feelings and thoughts hidden, even from Jace at times. His facade was slipping now, but that was only because he was inebriated. Magnus, Clary realized, had probably been the only one he let in fully. The only one to see the real Alexander Lightwood. And he was gone.

Clary walked up to Alec and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her, blue eyes shining with still yet to be shed tears.

"I just need to see him again, Clary, I need to talk to him."

"I know, Alec." They fell quiet amongst the shouts of clubgoers and the loud dance music. "We should go." Alec nodded and got up to follow her out of the club. It was raining, but luckily, Clary was able to flag a taxi pretty quickly. She'd get some food and water in Alec back at the Institute. Maybe slip some aspirin into a hot chocolate. The driver asked where they wanted to go but before Clary could give the address for the Institute, Alec gave him a different one. In Brooklyn.

"Alec, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see him."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea."

"You said we should go."

"I meant home, not to your ex's."

"I need to see him."

"Alec, you're not thinking straight. He's not answering your calls. Why would he answer the door? Besides, didn't Izzy try this already? She couldn't even break down the door."

"This is different."

"How?"

"Because…" he trailed off. "I just… I need to see him. I'm going to see him." Favor to Jace or not, something told Clary she was in over her head. And it wasn't just the sympathetic look the driver gave her in the mirror.

So here they were, in the Village at three in the morning, standing in front of the High Warlock of Brooklyn's three-story walk-up. Alec marched in and up the three flights of stairs, a very reluctant Clary trailing behind him and making every attempt to dissuade him from what was definitely a mistake. But Alec was hearing none of it. When they came to the door of Magnus's apartment, Alec didn't even knock. He just pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and walked on in.

"Alec!" CLary cried, chasing after him. "You can't just walk in-" she stopped short, backed out of the room and checked the apartment number. This was Magnus's apartment… on the outside at least. Walking back in, Clary looked around. The architecture of the place wasn't even close to what'd she'd seen in Magnus's place previously, so he hadn't moved out or redecorated. Besides, Magnus was far too stylish to have an apartment like this. The walls were a soft green color. Two large, plush gray couches and a couple of white chairs were arranged to face a flat-screen. The tv was mounted in the middle of a wall of bookshelves, filled with books and the occasional knick-knack. Soft blankets and a mismatched assortment of throw pillows were scattered around the room, among them multiple cat beds and toys. A set of french doors that had never been there before led out onto a roof with what looked to be a small greenhouse. If the cozy chaos of the apartment hadn't clued her into this apartment not belonging to Magnus, the existence of the impossible roof was a dead giveaway. Something was weird here and she and Alec weren't prepared to handle it.

"Alec, I think we should leave."

"You probably should." Clary turned to see the owner of the unfamiliar female voice standing with her arms crossed. Even in a sport's bra and koala pajama pants, this woman was intimidating. She looked to be only a couple inches than Clary, with long, brown curls framing her face. She was pretty, with the kind of delicate, youthful features that would undoubtedly require her to be carded for years had she been human. But this girl was not human. Had the silver scales that dotted her bare skin not been a clear sign, the abnormal metallic silver eyes would have been a dead giveaway. Though she might look to be around 15-16 at most, she was probably far older. She was a warlock, the scales and silver eyes her demon's marks. And those eyes were narrowed dangerously at Clary. Shit.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! We must have the wrong address, the door was open." Perhaps she could pass herself and Alec off as some helpless mundanes. It was a chilly night and they were both wearing long-sleeved jackets that should cover their runes.

"No. It was not. My door is always locked to your kind."

"My kind? What do you mean?" Please let this work!

"Drop the act, Shadowhunter. I can see the Voyeurance rune on your hand as clearly as you can see my scales." Double shit. "Now, you have until the count of ten to tell me how and why you broke into my home before I turn you into a mouse and feed you to the Baron."

"The Baron?" The warlock whistled and a tawny cat trotted out from a corner and hissed at Clary. "Nevermind."

"Good. Now, the choice is yours, either tell me what I want to know or my cat gets a treat." She raised a hand, poised to snap. "One. Two. Three-"

"We had a key!"

"I don't give out my key to Shadowhunters, try again. Four."

"No, we had a key to Magnus's place! Alec opened the door with the key and then we were in your apartment and I have no idea how. I'm sorry, but it was an honest mistake!" Realization flashed across the warlock's face.

"Wait, you had Magnus's key?"

"Yes!"

"And the shadowhunter boy, who is lying unconscious on my bedroom floor is Alexander Lightwood, correct?" Oh, that probably wasn't good, but she'd worry about Alec in a minute. At least he wasn't in a cat.

"Uh, yes? What happened to Alec?"

"Oh, that? He burst into my room yelling incoherently about something or another. And then before I could do anything he ran into a wall and passed out." Clary had never wanted to facepalm more in her life.

"Sorry about that. He's a bit, actually very, drunk."

"I figured. Only a drunk shadowhunter would break into a warlock's home. Or one trying to stop him, in your case I'm assuming." Clary nodded.

"I really am sorry, about this whole misunderstanding, but how did we get here."

"I'm cat-sitting for Magnus while he's out of town and we linked my apartment to his door so no one would try to break in while he was away. Last time he left his apartment unattended for a prolonged amount of time he came home to some… unexpected guests and their mess. This seemed like a better solution." That made sense. "My normal wards would keep you out but we altered them so that anyone coming from Magnus's door with a key could get through. Obviously, this didn't work out quite as planned, I'll have to fix that. But since you're here now, I guess introductions are in order."

"Oh, uh, right. I'm Clary Fray." She held out her hand. The warlock shook her hand, eyebrows having risen upon hearing her last name.

"Fray? That's not a usual Shadowhunter name."

"It's a long story. I guess my actual surname is Fairchild?"

"Ah, a Fairchild. I should have known, you're so tiny. I knew a distant relative of yours many years ago. She was small like you, but she was kind to me." That was good. Jace told her some downworlders held grudges for the actions of shadowhunter family members in the past. "I am Elizabeth Lilan, though you may call me Elle."

"It's nice to meet you, Elle." That made her smile at last.

"Consider yourself lucky, little Fairchild. It is not often I let your kind call me that. But Charlotte was a friend, so I'll honor our friendship with you now." Charlotte Fairchild, Clary had heard of her. She was actually one of her favorite relatives that she'd learned about in her Shadowhunter studies. She'd been the first female Consul and a badass. And Elle had known her so she'd been around since at least the 1800s. The name did sound vaguely familiar. Had she heard about her through Magnus somehow? "Would you like something to drink while we wait for your friend to wake up?"

"Uh, yes please."

"Water? Tea? Lemonade? Hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate, thank you." Elle waved her hand and two mugs appeared on the coffee table, next to a small plate of cookies and pastries.

"Have a seat and help yourself. I'm going to go move your friend. I doubt the floor is very comfortable."

"Oh, thanks. Do you need some help?" This night was so weird

"No, I can manage. Thank you though. So courteous for a Shadowhunter." With that, the woman turned and vanished down the hallway behind her. Unsure of what else to do and not wanting to disobey the wishes of the still mostly unknown warlock whose home she had barged into, Clary went and sat down on one of the couches. The hot chocolate was the perfect temperature and quite creamy. As Clary was reaching for a shortbread cookie on the plate, two cats jumped up on the couch next to her. One was the Baron, her former enemy now curled up at the end, still keeping a close eye on her. The other was a smaller light brown cat with a pink nose, who snuggled right up the baron and fell asleep, purring softly. Hearing the scuffling of many more tiny paws, Clary looked over to see a small group of more cats trotting out into the room. Behind them was Alec's floating body. It was now that Clary realized why Elle had not required her help to move the larger man, the warlock was levitating him down the hall and onto the unoccupied couch. Alec landed with a soft thump, still unconscious and now snoring. A cat jumped up onto his chest and began kneading it to prepare for laying down. This was the only cat that Clary recognized, Chairman Meow. The diminutive cat didn't seem to care that Alec was no longer with his master, tucking his stubby legs underneath him and purring contentedly. Clary wondered if Chairman had missed Alec like Alec missed Magnus.

"I see you've met Haru," Elle said, sitting down in a chair next to where Clary was sitting. This must be the cat next to the Baron. "But allow me to introduce the rest of my babies." She gestured to the other three cats that were settling down around the room. "The black one in the cat bed to your right is Jiji and the Persian next to him is his wife, Lily. And this," Elle pause to pick up the white kitten on her lap with a pink bow. "Is my darling little Yuki. You'll have to forgive me. Magnus calls me a crazy cat lady, but I usually prefer their company to most people." Clary nodded, still processing all the names.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you name all your cats after Studio Ghibli movies?" Elle gave her a bright smile.

"Excellent catch. I take it you're also a fan? You'd have to be to get the references to The Cat Returns." Clary nodded.

"I have it on DVD, or I did. My friend Simon kind of stole all my Ghibli DVDs after our last movie night."

"Well, you have excellent taste. I didn't realize you were so different from the rest of your brethren the last time we met."

"Wait, we've met before." Elle nonchalantly waved her hand.

"Yes, though you weren't conscious for it and it was quite some time ago. I was out with Magnus when we got a call from your sleepy friend there to save your life. You'd gotten some Behemoth slime in your bloodstream and required some immediate medical and magical assistance. And medicinal herbs and potions are a specialty of mine."

"That's where I'd heard your name before! I was trying to place it. Thank you very much."

"Normally I'd tell you it was no big deal, but since you're Nephilim and I helped you for free, you're right to thank me." Well, she was blunt.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were so against shadowhunters."

"I'll give you some advice since I like you and you seem to be naive to all of this. Not all warlocks are like Magnus. We may occasionally help your organization for a price, but many of us have wounds that run deep. Wounds that your kind caused." The more she learned about the Shadowhunters, the more Clary wondered if anyone besides themselves liked them.

"But, you said you were friends with Charlotte, my ancestor."

"Yes, and that is why I'm so kind to you. But Charlotte and others like her were the exceptions, not the rule. And besides, they're gone now. They've been gone for a long time." She looked down into her mug, sadness clear on her face. Would that be how Magnus looked when he thought about her in the future? What would he think of Alec 200 years from now?

"Uh, since you asked me about my name earlier, do you mind if I ask you a similar question?" She needed to change the subject.

"Certainly." The warlock looked happy for a change of subject.

"You last name, I thought warlocks went with single-syllable last names."

"They do and I did for many years. But I decided I needed a change a few years ago and decided to revert to my married name." Now that was a surprise.

"You were married?!"

"Yes, three times."

"But, I didn't think warlocks married."

"Generally not, but every once and a while we might. I seem to be something of an exception, having done it thrice myself. I went by a warlock name for many years, but as I said I needed a change. So I decided to use my old married name. It's been a few centuries since I did so, but it feels right. I'm assuming you know what mean, considering you're not using your own shadowhunter name." Clary nodded.

"What was your name before?"

"Bethany Payne. That's probably the name you'd find in your records at the Institute if you look for me, I only changed it in the 90s and you Nephilim are so slow at updating your paperwork."

"So, you changed your first name too?"

"Yes, when I decided to revert back to Lilan I decided it would be best to use the first name that I'd used with it. It was the first name I chose for myself back in the 18th century." So she'd been alive since the 1700s. Clary was learning a lot from her.

"I didn't realize warlocks changed their names like that. I mean, I knew that they generally chose different, warlock names for themselves. But I figured it was more of a one and done."

"It usually is, but, as I said before, I tend to be something of an anomaly amongst my kind."

"So, how many names have you used?"

"I've honestly lost count. For many years there I changed my name on a whim. It wasn't until after my third husband that I kept a name." Something flashed across her eyes. "It was then that I chose the name, Bethany Payne. I met your ancestor around that time, Magnus introduced us in England." Magnus. Clary looked over to the still sleeping Alec.

"Where is he? Magnus, I mean." Elle sighed.

"Honestly, I'm not sure and I'm not sure when he'll be back. He just showed up here out of the blue, saying he would have called but he destroyed his phone," that explained why he hadn't responded to the voicemails, "and that he needed to get out of here for a while. He did say something about South America, but that's a whole continent so he could be anywhere. Well, anywhere ut Brazil. He's banned from Brazil." Clary's eyebrows shot up. "I can see the question on your face. No, I don't know why he's banned. When you live as long and as recklessly as some of us do, you get banned from some countries. It's more common than you'd think."

"Okay then, but you really don't know where he is?"

"I really don't. And even if I did I wouldn't tell you," she said. "You're a perfectly nice girl, Clary, with excellent taste in movies. But at the end of the day, you and Alexander over there are Shadowhunters." Clary opened her mouth to speak, but Elle held up a hand. "And more than that, Magnus is my friend. No, more than that. He's the closest thing I have to a brother. He's the one who was there for me when I was at my lowest after my Amos died. I've known him for a long time and I've never seen him like this before." She glared over at the couch where Alec laid. "I don't know what all happened between them, he couldn't bring himself to tell me, but I DO know that your friend over there hurt him. And he hurt him badly. From everything that Magnus told me before this (which was a LOT, I couldn't get him to talk about much else for months when he met him), I'm sure Alexander doesn't mean him any harm. But you Nephilim, even the best of you, have a bad habit of hurting people and then trying to excuse it with your good intentions. So I'm going to ask you this, little Fairchild. If you are any different from the rest of your kind, which I think you might be, do Magnus and your friend there a favor. Let Magnus be. All of you. He needs time and space to heal. Can you try to do that and do your best to convince the rest of your motley crew to do the same?"

Clary saw the look in her eyes. She knew it all too well. She'd seen it in her mother many times. It was the look of someone who was doing their best to protect the ones they loved. The look of someone who'd been burned badly in the past. Brutally honest as she was, Elizabeth Lilan wasn't a bad person. She was just doing what she thought was best and trying to survive as she could, just like the rest of them.

"I can only promise to do my best. I'm sure you know how the rest of them can be." the warlock nodded.

"Thank you. Your generation might yet save the Nephilim yet. Now please, wake-up your Lightwood and go home. I've had enough of Shadowhunters in my apartment for the night and the near future." Clary nodded and stood. "Wait, take this." With a wave of her hand, Elle was holding a little purple bottle and a small, screw-top container. "The poultice is for his head, it should clear up the goose-egg that my wall gave him." Upon closer inspection of Alec, there did indeed appear to be a large lump on his forehead. "And give him the bottle when he wakes up tomorrow. He's going to have one hell of a hangover." Clary thanked her, taking the medicines and putting them into the pockets of her coat. Elle cast one last look at the unconscious young man on her couch. "You know, I told Magnus that something like this would happen when he said he was serious about him and not just looking for another fling. But he insisted that Alexander cared about him too much to hurt him. I guess I was right, but you know, for a second I thought I wasn't and he and Magnus could make this work. I never wished to be wrong more in my life."

"So, you do admit that they loved each other?" Molten silver flashed as she turned to look back at Clary.

"Oh, little Fairchild. Only real love can break you like that. I would know." Clary didn't doubt her for a second.

 **Well, there you have it. I've actually been meaning to come back and give more information about Elle's back story. She's actually lived quite the life, one I hope to address in her own story someday. But now we know a little bit more about her past and her relationship. If you've read some other stories of mine, specifically some Malec AUs of mine, you might notice that I use Elle as Magnus's little sister occasionally. That's because I really see her more as having a sister/brother relationship with Magnus. Thanks to Janebc0123 for leaving a review. Sorry, it took so long for me to get around to addressing your pet peeve. Hopefully, I've resolved it and you liked this latest chapter. I might do more in this story or not, I don't know. If not, feel free to check out the other stories on my profile. Thanks for reading everyone!**

 **~ Mallorie a.k.a. Lilymaid620**


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